Once a diamond mining town to those seeking their fortune, Kolmanskop is now an eerie ghost town abandoned to the sands of the Namib Desert.
A railway worker named Zacharias Lewala found a sparkling stone lying in the sand while digging away from the railway line near Kolmanskop in 1908. He showed it to his supervisor August Stauch, who confirmed it, was a diamond and the news spread fast, catching the attention of hundreds of German families dreaming of riches.
Now, tourists flock to Kolmanskop to see how the once grand German houses are gradually getting reclaimed by Namibia’s sand dunes and strong winds.